President Erdogan’s spokesman reacted strongly to John Bolton’s op-ed on the upcoming Turkish vote
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has denounced former US national security adviser John Bolton as a would-be “colonial governor” whose attempts to interfere in Turkish democracy are doomed to fail. Bolton had proposed threatening Turkey with expulsion from NATO in a piece published by the Wall Street Journal.
“Bolton, who previously admitted that he supported coups, called on NATO to intervene in the elections in Türkiye. It is a futile effort to try to take the democratic will of the Turkish nation under tutelage,” Kalin tweeted. “Gone are the days when you played colonial governor,” he added.
The Turkish-language tweet also linked to Bolton’s op-ed in the WSJ, published on Tuesday, in which the hawkish Republican advised NATO to “put Ankara’s membership on the chopping block” as a way to influence the Turkish elections.
Bolton accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being “divisive and dangerous,” subverting the constitution, wrecking the economy, and pursuing “belligerent regional policies.” Türkiye is a member of NATO, “but it isn’t acting like an ally,” Bolton argued.
A member since 1952, Türkiye commands the second-largest army within NATO and hosts the Allied Land Command headquarters in Izmir. Relations between Ankara and Washington have been fraught in recent years, however, after the US sanctioned Türkiye over its incursions into Syria and the decision to buy S-400 air defense systems from Russia in 2019.
While Bolton currently holds no public office in the US, he previously represented Washington in the UN and served as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser until he was fired in 2019. The champion of regime change in Venezuela, Iran, and Russia recently said he might run for the White House in 2024 if Republicans do not disavow Trump.
Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has run Türkiye for almost 20 years. He has been president since 2014, and was prime minister before that. AKP currently has 286 seats in the 600-seat Grand National Assembly, while the largest opposition party, CHP, has 134.
By law, Ankara must call a general election by mid-June. On Wednesday, Erdogan proposed moving the vote up to May 14, the anniversary of the first Turkish multi-party elections in 1950.
Several opposition parties are reportedly working together to challenge the president, but have yet to agree on a joint candidate. One widely rumored choice, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, was convicted last month of insulting public officials and disqualified from running for public office.
https://www.rt.com/news/570168-bolton-turkiye-election-meddling/
Volker Turk has warned that efforts to advance reparatory justice are facing resistance in “certain quarters,” and urged countries to back Africa’s push.
Reparatory justice for historical crimes, including colonialism, enslavement, and the trade in enslaved Africans, is crucial to dismantling systemic racism, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said.
Speaking at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Tuesday, Turk linked present-day discrimination against people from the continent to the enduring legacy of colonialism and enslavement.
”Racism and dehumanizing rhetoric continue to permeate public institutions, communities, and online platforms,” he said, according to the UN Press Service. Turk noted that “digital technologies, including AI, are reproducing and amplifying existing biases against people of African descent.”
The remarks come weeks after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest...
The US VP had to defend President Trump’s Gaza policy at a rally on a Georgia college campus.
US Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to defend Washington’s policy in Gaza after he was booed and heckled at a key MAGA event on Wednesday.
Co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative student group that has long been seen as a strong support base of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement but is now showing apparent cracks.
Less than 15 minutes into a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, Vance was interrupted by hecklers over US policy in Gaza, with one audience member shouting, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” As he attempted to respond, others shouted, “You’re killing children!” and “You’re bombing children!”
Vance replied by referring to Trump’s achievements as president, including securing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, something he said the previous administration of Joe Biden failed to do.
“I ...
Sergey Shoigu has cautioned Finland and the Baltic states against allowing Kiev to use their airspace for attacks on Russia.
Russia would have the right to retaliate if Finland and the Baltic states are deliberately allowing Ukrainian drones to pass through their airspace, Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said on Thursday.
“Recently, there has been an increase in Ukrainian drone strikes against Russia via Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia,” Shoigu told journalists. “As a result, civilians are suffering and significant damage is being caused to civilian infrastructure.”
Either Western air defenses are proving ineffective, or these four countries “deliberately provide their airspace, thereby becoming open accomplices in aggression against Russia,” he added. In the latter case, Moscow has the right to self-defense in response to an “armed attack” under Article 51 of the UN Charter, the security chief stressed.
In recent weeks, Kiev has intensified drone strikes on ...
